Housing prices have
tremendously appreciated year-over-year and have surpassed all
median home prices for the county since 2008, closing out 2013
at five-year highs. Orange County’s median home price in August
2014 is $585,000, a slight decrease of $5,000 over the previous
month’s median and an increase of $35,000 since the previous September.

Average apartment rents for Orange County have spiked with housing price growth,
with an average of $65 higher rents in 2014 compared to the previous
year’s equivalent average. The Orange County average rental rates
in September 2014 declined significantly since August’s year-to-date
highs, falling by $63 to an average of $1,761. On a per-city basis
Anaheim and Orange saw slight increases in their average apartment
rents, while other cities saw declines, particularly Irvine.

The number of residential building permits in Orange County receded significantly
in January 2014 but saw ample growth over the following three
months to a 2014 high of 931 permits in April. Building activity
in July 2014 saw an uptick for Orange County, with 655 permits
granted during the month. Irvine continues to lead the county’s
permit activity with 65 percent of total permits issued in the
county for August 2014. Tustin was once again the next most active,
claiming 10 percent of permit activity for the month.

Orange County’s median home price is compared to other regions, showing
the year-over-year and month-over-month change in value.

Source: Dataquick

Average
Apartment Rents Orange County and by Major City

This indicator shows the average apartment rent for major Orange County
cities and for the county average as a whole. The county average as a whole
is not the average of the seven cities shown in this chart but for all the
cities in Orange County.